As the use of digital data increases, the capacity of data storage devices to hold this data and the corresponding methods for achieving higher capacity are improving. For example, methods for writing to tape backup drives are such that more bits are being fit within a smaller volume of magnetic tape. When using such methods, the magnetic characteristics that indicate the value of a particular bit are spread across multiple bit spaces in the read back signal. Thus, to read the value of a particular bit from a particular bit space, a reading device has to take into account the magnetic characteristics of neighboring bit spaces. This overlap of bit encoding results in Inter-Symbol Interference (ISI) within the read back signal. Partial Response Maximum Likelihood (PRML) techniques may be used to decode the individual bits encoded using such techniques.
Throughout the drawings, identical reference numbers designate similar, but not necessarily identical, elements.